


Shall we dance?

by Kira7



Series: Father & Mother [3]
Category: Bright Young Things, Vile Bodies - Evelyn Waugh
Genre: Almost Kiss, Denial of Feelings, Domestic Fluff, First Dance, Ginger in denial about his feelings and sexuality, Kiss cheek, Living Together, M/M, Miles is a tease, Not Beta Read, Pining, Post-Canon, Post-World War II, Pre-Relationship, Rain, Wet & Messy, Wet Clothing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-11
Updated: 2020-04-11
Packaged: 2021-03-02 01:01:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,894
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23596525
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kira7/pseuds/Kira7
Summary: Oh perchance when the last little star has left the sky shall we still be together with our arms around eachother, and shall you be my new romance? On the clear understanding that this kind of thing can happen shall we dance? Shall we dance? Shall we dance?It's difficult to live with someone you're attracted to, but dancing together becomes a little more complicated if you try to hide your feelings, right?... Yeah...
Relationships: Ginger Littlejohn/Miles Maitland
Series: Father & Mother [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1681372
Comments: 2
Kudos: 18





	Shall we dance?

The raindrops ticked against the window pane, keeping company to Ginger, who was making tea. The stillness was turned upside down by the opening front door and an annoyed snort, which unknowingly caused a smile to Captain Littlejohn, it would be a pleasant afternoon.  
Miles had come home soaked wet, he hadn't thought of bringing an umbrella, and took off his coat and hat and adjusted the curls on his forehead, all wet.  
"Was it fun?," he asked trying to hold back a laugh.  
"Divinely," Miles replied angrily, the weather had ruined his favorite jacket, and his hair? Completely a disaster! "And don't start telling me _'I told you_ ' in that scolding tone of yours, Mother must not be scolded!"  
"You simply have to pay more attention to weather."  
"Sorry, darling, I didn't think I was back in London."  
Ginger turned and saw Miles in that state, he looked like a stray cat who had accidentally fallen into a very deep puddle, it was a cute, funny image.  
"Don't laugh," Miles said, though it was difficult for him to resist the man's laughter.  
"I'm not doing it."  
Miles rolled his eyes, puffing feignedly annoyed, when Ginger passed him to get him a towel; Miles was about to say something, but he was interrupted by the towel on his head and by Ginger's hands that began to rub his hair to remove the water.  
"At least you don't get a cold."  
Miles remained silent, oddly, closing his eyes and fully enjoying that moment of attention. It was pleasant, intimate, he had never shared such a gesture with any of his lovers, only a bed and some jolly good moments, instead with Ginger it seemed completely different: there hadn't been a bed to share, not yet, yet moments like that seemed to fill the man's heart of a very different joy, it tasted of safety, of family.  
"And, not to rage, but I told you. That is, I told you that maybe there was no need to go out for a walk without an umbrella, I mean, there were black clouds, it was easy to guess that there would be a rain. Instead you had to do it yourself, again, you know what I mean, and here is the result."  
With a smile, Miles mentally added that the joy in his heart tasted so much of Ginger, and he didn't mind.  
"Maybe I was waiting for a fearless Captain to come and save me," the second-born Maitland teased him with a tempting glance, obtaining a slight blush on the cheeks of the aforementioned Captain.  
"Y-yeah. Ok, you can continue by yourself. Go change, I finish the tea, do you want a cup too?"  
A lovely man, no doubt about it, a little shy, but he could handle without problems. Miles started to head into his bedroom when he turned to look at Ginger busy with the kettle.  
"Don't you want to come and help me out of my clothes?"  
The sound of a spoon falling on the floor was the answer he received, simply delicious.  
"You don't have to be so agitated, Eddie dear. It will mean that, this time, I will do it by myself."  
Miles knew he was being watched, he knew how to get attention, and he was sure that Ginger was looking at him with a frown made of countless sensations.  
And he wasn't wrong: as soon as Miles' bedroom door closed, Ginger went back to the tea, doing everything he could to not think about what Miles was up to. He didn't have to think about Miles taking his clothes off, he didn't have to wonder if Miles was someone who liked to put clothes in order or throw them on the bed or any other surface, he didn't have to imagine how Miles' chest could be like without clothes on, damn it! Why was he doing it then? It's Miles' fault! He didn't have to ask him that inappropriate question, it wasn't decent.  
A little of milk and no sugar for him and two sugar lumps with a dash of milk for Miles... No! There was nothing wrong with remembering how Miles liked tea! So no twisted thoughts! It was normal! Totally normal!  
Too concentrated to impose certain restrictions at his mind, that Ginger didn't notice he had switched the two cups, so when he took a sip he found a taste too sweet on his tongue.  
"Since when did you change your tastes about tea?," an amused voice asked behind him.  
Miles entered the kitchen and exchanged the cups, offering Ginger the right one.  
"This is yours," he winked.  
Ginger grabbed the right cup and nodded absently. Miles also remembered his tastes. Nothing wrong. Two normal friends who remembered each other's tastes. Two. Normal. Friends. Nothing else!  
"Something wrong?," Miles asked feignedly naive, "It's been a lot of minutes in which you seem frustrated."  
"I'm fine," he answered with a whisper.  
"You sure? I know a perfect way to get relaxed," Miles approached Ginger as a feline approached its prey, Ginger found himself adhering his back completely to the chair, fighting against the urge to lower his gaze and take a look at those inviting lips.  
"Nothing inappropriate, Miles!"  
Miles' face made an expression of totally surprise, and he placed a hand to cover his mouth, "My God, Ginger, you really are a beast thinking about certain things! And I just wanted to ask you for a dance."  
"A... A--dance?"  
"Of course!," Miles got up and joined Ginger, holding out his hand like a dame waiting to be grabbed. "What do you think about it?"  
Ginger took a deep breath in an attempt to calm down, he wouldn't have lived long with Miles playing such prank. He gave Miles a meaningful glance that was deliberately misinterpreted.  
"Or... We could always do what you had in mind, I never mind such divine and jolly moments. After all, that is also a good way to relax your nerves."  
Ginger, red-faced, grabbed his hand and led him into the middle of the small living room, looking everywhere except Miles, who was smiling like a child at Christmas.  
"I warn you, I'm not very good at these kinds of things," he whispered while he was looking down, only a few moments later he raised his head to stare at Miles, "Even during our wedding, Nina and I don't, don't-- I mean, I don't I have this predisposition to dance."  
And Miles laughed at that admission, lightening the atmosphere, "Poor my little Nina, I dare not imagine the awkward moments," he stroked Ginger's cheek and then took both his hands, "Let Mother teach you how to do it properly, then."  
And Ginger let himself be guided, even if theoretically he played the part of the man and Miles the part of the woman. They were dancing a waltz, considering the steps; not that he understood anything about dancing, he who had dedicated his life to military duties and anything but recreational activities, but it was pleasant to devote himself to something frivolous, although its utility was still unknown to him. Perhaps, Ginger thought, Miles' beauty was not in his way of dressing, or in his laughter, or in his eyes or in his way of doing totally out of any scheme; the Captain had come to the conclusion that the beauty of this young man lay in the strength with which he dragged others to do something different, ensuring them the fun they were looking for. A brilliant and extraordinarily unstoppable mind.  
  
Miles decided to turn under the left arm that Ginger had raised to let him pass, then he left slightly, but the Captain followed the instinct to call his lady by pulling Miles towards him; it seemed to be what Miles wanted, because after a pirouette he went to lean his back against Ginger's chest, in an intimate and almost chaste touch by his standards, but which was a thousand times better than all the versions he had previously used with other dancers. Ginger's left hand covered Miles', while the right one interlaced the fingers with the other man's one; Miles stood looking in front of him, feeling Ginger's breath close to his ear, he couldn't help laughing at his situation.  
"Oh dear!," he began to recite. "I was captured by a hungry beast! And I'm a poor helpless tidbit!," and he leaned even more on Ginger, he didn't want any space between their bodies.  
On the other hand, Ginger closed his eyes, taking deep breaths in an attempt to calm his heart; the man was still trying to convince himself that it was normal to dance like that with a friend, a good friend, that he had absolutely no satisfaction having Miles' body, a man, so shamelessly close to his, he should not find it pleasant, he should not find it satisfying--  
"Um, Captain?"  
"Hm?"  
"How long should I remain your prisoner?"  
Ginger raised his eyelids slightly, stopping just in time to not put his lips behind Miles' ear.  
"Until you admit I was right."  
"About doing something else instead of dancing?"  
Unknowingly, Ginger's hands tightened slightly around Miles'.  
"About bringing an umbrella next time you want to go out."  
Miles laughed, turning his head so he could see the other man's face, who had a deep, serious and bloody fascinating look.  
"What if you will be with me next time?," he proposed, biting his lower lip so as not to immediately jump to kiss that birthmark hidden by the mustache, it was difficult to resist against a desire like that, especially for someone like Miles who had set his own life to follow whatever impulse his brain made.  
They were so close, their noses almost touching.  
"Only after you admit I was right."  
"Blackmailing beast."  
"I don't understand."  
And fortunately Ginger himself had claimed that he wasn't particularly good at wooing someone. What did he call this? Talk about the weather?  
  
In the end Miles decided to give in, with the promise that he would take revenge sooner or later, no one, not even Father, could put Mother with his back to the wall... Except for special occasions.  
Ginger freed Miles from that prison made of arms and hands, not before receiving a kiss on the cheek by Miles.  
"I want to go out."  
"Wha-Again?"  
"Yes, I desperately need to go for a walk, maybe even to have dinner outside."  
"But-- It's still raining outside, Miles, don't-- That is, what I mean is--"  
"It's an excellent opportunity to test my new companion."  
"Pardon?"  
"Will you accompany me, Ginger?"  
Miles turned to look at the other man, with a desperate request in his eyes: he wanted to get out of that apartment before he could do something unpleasant, but at the same time he didn't want to be alone, he wanted to be accompanied by Ginger, otherwise he would have really risked throwing himself in the arms of the first man imagining it was Ginger.  
The Captain remained silent for a few seconds, making Miles fear the worst, but then he went to the front door to put on his coat and hat, also grabbing his umbrella.  
Miles watched him for a few moments before joining him, thanking him mentally for not leaving him alone.  
Ginger was simply an angel.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading ^^
> 
> If you want to scream with me, you can find me on [ **Tumblr** ](https://kira-7.tumblr.com) or [ **Twitter** ](https://mobile.twitter.com/kira7_13) 😄


End file.
